Did you ever notice how the graduates of our elite universities and law schools have terrible memories?

The latest case of elite memory loss is the corrupt former director of the FBI, James Comey.

Comey was subpoenaed by the House Judiciary and Oversight committee and after a judge laughed at his attempt to fight the subpoena on the grounds that the testimony would be closed, and he wanted it open, Comey agreed to appear, and the House Committees chose to release the transcript of his testimony.

President Trump was quick to unleash a Tweetstorm on Comey, starting with:

On 245 occasions, former FBI Director James Comey told House investigators he didn’t know, didn’t recall, or couldn’t remember things when asked. Opened investigations on 4 Americans (not 2) - didn’t know who signed off and didn’t know Christopher Steele. All lies!

The President followed-up with:

Leakin’ James Comey must have set a record for who lied the most to Congress in one day. His Friday testimony was so untruthful! This whole deal is a Rigged Fraud headed up by dishonest people who would do anything so that I could not become President. They are now exposed!

Conservatives on social media were equally harsh with Twitter user @KJM88V speaking for many with this Tweet:

After reading the transcript one thing is very clear; someone that can’t recall very basic events in such a high profile position is either a liar or incredibly incompetent.

However, there was much of substance buried in Comey’s testimony, as our friend Ben Weingarten tweeting at @bhweingarten pointed out:

…Comey argued essentially that the salacious and unverified Steele dossier was kosher because Steele was deemed credible. If nothing else, it’s terrifying that he was so laissez faire in being comfortable spying on Americans with such minimal justification

I've read the entire Comey transcript, which, contrary to his characterization to the media, wasn't all about Hillary's emails. The most interesting portions, to me, were his casual denials that he had read, or should have read, everything in a FISA application he was ...

And then:

...was included in the FISA application. It's almost as if he's saying he didn't really read it, without saying he didn't really read it. As a matter of fact, he wouldn't need to have read it to answer the questions as posed - he's read the same redacted versions as we have...

...and the answers to those questions are self-evident in the redacted versions available to the public. He also said he couldn't comment on the Steele dossier's import in obtaining PC, because he didn't know what other evidence they presented in the application. So, yes - one...

...can argue that I was misleading when I said in my tweet that he was basically saying he didn't read the application - but other than stating that he read it, he shows no sign of actually having done so in his answers to questioning. Why would that be?

But here's the elephant in the room - the common sense piece that some commenters seem to be avoiding. The Page FISA application was a big deal. Comey, by signing, was taking responsibility for a request to violate the privacy of an American citizen tied to a presidential....

....campaign. Comey remembers big deals. The inclusion of the Steele dossier in the Carter Page FISA application was an international news story - not some regular old signing of some paperwork crossing his desk years ago. It's been debated, examined, and published (redacted).

With that as his backdrop, Comey told the committee he couldn't recall the actual elements of probable cause argued in the application (the Steele dossier part is public, and unreacted) and....he couldn't recall whether or not the Steele dossier was used in the application.

So why is he saying he read it but can't remember anything in it? Because it's the least worst option. Remember Comey and his options? Option one is to say I didn't read it - which would bring on an immediate and righteous backlash from people who believe that signing/certifying

...a request to invade another American's privacy should be given the attention it deserves prior to pledging to a judge that all was in order and verified. That's a bad option. Option Two is to say he read it but can't remember what's in it. That's a hard one to pull off, but...

...it's the least worst of the two. So Option Two it is - Yep, I read it. Nope, don't remember anything about it. Yep, I believe Carter Page was an agent of a foreign power we should be allowed to legally spy on. Nope, don't know why we believed that. Man of integrity.

The Weingarten and Beale tweet strings remind us of the problems Hillary Clinton had in remembering details in the Benghazi and email server investigations.

As the Washington Post’s Aaron Blake reported on September 2, 2016, in the three hours-plus that Hillary Clinton spoke with FBI investigators about her private email server on July 2, she cited more than three-dozen things that she could not recall.

Among them were things such as specific emails that perhaps nobody could be expected to remember years later, but Clinton also said she had no recollection of several key moments when it came to her email server, including briefings on how to handle classified information and key conversations about her server.

It seems that James Comey (William & Mary undergrad and University of Chicago law school) and Hillary Clinton (Wellesley College and Yale law school) are infected with the same memory loss virus that affects so many of the elite university graduates who make up DC’s political class, leading one to conclude it is not memories, but ethics and integrity that they are missing.